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Backup the Boot Disk | Exact Sync | Log | Scheduling | Preview | Preferences | FAQ

Preferences:
Choose the menu item Preferences from the "FoldersSynchronizer" menu to open the Preference panel. It contains 3 sub-panels: "General", "Log" and "Copy Mode", each one granting several features.

General:
  • At launch:
    • Sync And Quit: if marked, when you launch FS, it will execute the current session (as you set previously), then it will quit.
  • Before Sync:
    • Ask Confirmation: before starting a sync or a backup, you will be asked if you really want to sync/backup the current session.
    • Show Preview: after the scanning folders, and before copying the files, FS will show the Preview List Window, which lists all the files FS is going to copy, replace and delete. If the task has been launched by a timer, FS will never show the Preview window
  • After Sync:
    • Beep When Done: after a sync or backup has been executed, FS will play a beep.
    • Shut Down: after a sync or backup has been executed, FS will quit and shut down the machine. Of course, if other applications block the shut down procedure (because of some open and unsaved document), the machine will not shut down.
      If used together with the "Sync and Quit" feature, FS, at launch, will execute the current session (sync/backup) then will quit and shut down the computer.
  • On Error:
    • Stop, Skip, Ask: in case of error, FS will behave as you specify here. "Stop", will tell FS to stop the whole task. "Skip" will tell FS to skip the error and continue. "Ask" will tell FS to show a dialog alert asking you for the proper behaviour. If the task has been launched by a timer, FS will always behave as you marked "Skip".


Log: at the end of the task (sync/backup or multiple sync/backup or multiple sessions task) FS always compiles a log text you can quickly see in the Log Window (which you can open by the "Window:Log" menu item). This text can contain short or detailed informations, and can be saved to a file and/or sent to a custom email address.
  • Type: it lets you choose which informations FS should report in the Log file.
    • Short: if marked, the log file will report only a summary of the task (amount of files/folder copied, replaced, deleted, and all the current settings). This option is the cheapest memory and time consuming.
    • Errors: if marked, the log file will report the summary plus any error met during the copy. This option is a good time and memory consuming compromise between the two options above and below. We suggest to use this option.
    • Detailed: if marked, the log file will report the summary, the errors, plus any single task done on each file/folder (files and folders copied, replaced, deleted). This option is the most memory and time consuming. If FS copied 100,000 files, the log will contain 100,000 lines plus the summary.

  • Save Log File: if marked, at the end of the task, FS will save the log text to a file.
    • When: you can specify when saving the log file. You can tell FS to always save the log file (Always), or only if an error occurred (On Error).
    • Format: you can choose the file format of the log file: RTF or TXT.
    • Where: you can specify the folder where FS will save the log Files to.
      Press the Folder icon button in order to choose the folder where FS will save the log files to.
      If you click on the pathname of the Log Folder in this panel, the Finder will open that folder.
    • Delete Logs: if marked, FS will delete the most remote log files and leave the latest log files as specified by the popup menu and the field aside. You can choose to delete all the log files older than a given number of days (e.g. 7, so FS will leave only the Log files related to the last week) or to delete all the Log files and leave only the latest files (e.g. leave the latest 4 most remote log files).

  • Send Log via email: if marked, FS, at the end of the task, will send the log text to the email address specified in the "Send To" field, even if you didn't mark the check-box "Save Log file". The type of the log text is specified by the option above "Type".
    • When: you can specify when sending the log text via emai. You can tell FS to always send the email (Always), or only if an error occurred (On Error).
    • Send To: if the check-box "Send Log via email" is marked, FS will send the log text to the email address here specified.

Copy Mode:
  • Run as root: if marked, FS will run with the root's privileges, even if you logged-in on your computer as simple user.
    This means that it will be able to copy/replace/delete all the files and folders owned by all the users (included all the system files). So, use this option with the utmost care. Please note that, to backup/sync the MacOS X boot disk, you must run FS with the root's privileges (that is, you have to log in as root, or if you logged in as simple user, you have to mark this check-box). If you mark this check-box, FS will require the root's password, then it will ask to quit and relaunch the application.

    Alert
    Please note that FS can never work with root's permissions on remote volumes. It's a MacOS X rule. The remote volumes simply don't trust the local root user. In order to get all the permissions on the remote volumes you have to boot the remote machine as target mode (FireWire mode). To know more about this topic and about backing up the whole MacOS X boot disk to a remote volume using the root's privileges please take a look at the Backup the Boot Disk page.

  • Modification Delta Seconds: in certain cases, when the Finder copys a file from a machine to a different machine, the creation and the modification dates of the source and destination files differ from some second because of a bug in MacOS X. This way, at the next sync/backup, FS would think that these files have been modified after the last sync/backup and consequently it should copy them again. To avoid this trouble we introduced this feature to let you define the difference (in terms of seconds) that will make FS skip pairs of files whose difference between their modification dates is less or equal to the "Modification Delta Second" value.
    For example, if both the files "x" have been saved, the first one on July 18th 2003, H 20:30:45, and the second one on July 18th 2003, H 20:30:55, if you set the "Modification Delta Seconds" to 10 or more, FS will skip the files "x" from the sync/backup.

• The PDF User manual contains more detailed information.